The man who shouldered the worlds burden: Retribution
by Tsukune-Sama
Summary: Itachi miraculously survives his confrontation with Sasuke, with all the will he can possibly muster out! Managing to sneak away when Sasuke thinks he has defeated him, and collapses right in time for Zetsu to catch him and heal him, so he can claim retribution, and clear his name of all wrongs that he has gained up until now! Pairing in the future ItaMei


I came up with this idea one day when I was walking to school, it just came out of no where when I was thinking of how to further my older fanfictions. Which will likely never get completed for a while because my phone is being shipped for repairs. That's where I stored them for the time being before my phone broke. Oh yeah, for future reference, I will leave myself little side notes, because when I copy, and paste from google doc's, into the actual file upload thing. The bold, and italics I used on google disappear, I have to go back in, and redo it. So I may miss a few of the side notes I left myself, and forget to delete them as I finish. I will most likely miss at least one of them, because I tend to type a lot. So I have to search through a lot to find them.

My assistant rolls her eyes, and I catch that: "Oh yeah? Really? You have a better idea why I haven't finished my other fanfictions?"

My assistant nods with a confident smirk: "Yes Tsukune-sama, I know why, because you're l-!" Is all my assistant can say before I cup a hand over her mouth.

Me: "Don't you dare say another word! Or no more Torture/ pleasure!" I exclaim, then she licks my hand, causing me to pull away in disgust. "Oh hell no!" I grab my rope, and tie her up, taking her to her favorite room of all the rooms in the world.

Anyway lets start!

"Normal speech"

'**Thoughts**'

"**Kurama/ Black Zetsu speech**"

'**Kurama/ Black Zetsu thoughts.**'

* * *

><p>Itachi panted heavily, as his vision slowly started to fade, wavered as he walked for the secret exit hidden behind the Uchiha leader's chair. '<strong>Wow... Sasuke really hated me, if I hadn't switched with Zetsu right before Kirin hit me, and given him partial Susano I'd be done for... I can't die just yet, there is still something I have to finish before I die...<strong>' Itachi said, and cringed a little as he felt a rib stab him, he could tell he had at least 5 broken ribs. Then his vision was slowly fading because of over using Amaterasu. "I have to get Retribution, then Sasuke will understand why my motives..." Itachi trailed lightly, then pressed a button located in the Uchiha symbol on the back of the chair, and a seamless trapdoor opened behind him.

Zetsu looked up from the place where he was working. "Itachi! You won!? That is amazing, I heard, and felt what I thought was an earthquake, and you seem hurt..." White Zetsu trailed as the black Zetsu sighed, no one understood how he could talk without a mouth. "**Lay down on the table Itachi, we will fix you right up. Fugaku, or Shisui?**" Black Zetsu asked, as Itachi lay down on the table, as Zetsu could see Itachi's eyes were graying, like he was blind now.

Itachi pondered this for a second, then finally came up with his choice. "I choose my father... Fugaku Uchiha, bring his eyes, and transplant them. I still need Shisui's eyes for a future event. I can feel it, I will miss these eyes though... They had powers that could defeat even Madara." Itachi said mystically, and commanded in his normal voice, but the undertone of authority left no room for debate. Zetsu was confused as to what he meant, as he had never seen Itachi's Sharingan in 100% action, so he still had powers that he hadn't seen as of yet.

Zetsu nodded, and brought Fugaku Uchihas eyes over to the operation table. '**Before today I thought Danzo had taken all of the Uchiha's eyes after Itachi slaughtered them. Though it seems Itachi took his fathers before he left the village.**' -(Bold here) Zetsu pondered, as he used white Zetsu's hand to heal Itachi's broken ribs, and internal bleeding, and numb Itachi. The black Zetsu opened the right eye lids of Itachi, who was now under because of the anesthetic. Pulling the eyeball out, then in a quick motion, the white Zetsu cut the optical nerve with a chakra dissection blade. Itachi couldn't feel any of this because of the strong anesthetic. "**Ok, right eye.**" Black Zetsu ordered the white Zetsu, who complied immediately.

**Itachi's dreamscape: **

"Where am I?" Itachi quietly mused as he looked to what he thought was a non inverted color of his Tsukiyomi realm where he tortured people. "Why am I here moreover?" Itachi silently mused, then whipped around, reaching for a kunai. He didn't have a kunai, or shuriken holster on him, or his seals on his wrists, so he pressed the man against the ground.

The mysterious man chuckled lightly, and held his hands up in defeat as Itachi realized who he was pinning down. "Really now, is that anyway to treat your old man?" The man, now positively identified as Itachi's father, Fugaku Uchiha said as he got up, and dusted himself off.

Itachi sweatdropped a bit at his fathers dismissive behavior. They both knew that even without a weapon, Itachi could have killed him without a second thought. "Sorry tou-san, I'm a little on edge since I have no idea where I currently am." Itachi said, then surveyed his surroundings.

Fugaku looked around too, then back to Itachi. "This is shinobi heaven Itachi, haven't you realized it yet? Well not really, more of a waiting room to Shinobi heaven. They're still sorting out the nin from the last great ninja war, so it maybe a while." Fugaku mused, as if it was a well known fact. Itachi's eyes widened slightly in shock as to what his father had just said, him showing any expression meant it was big.

Itachi shook his head lightly "I didn't think it was, because it looks like just an un-inverted version of my Tsukiyomi realm." Itachi mused, then raised an eyebrow to why his father still had his eyes closed since he had woken up while he was floating in the water.

Fugaku sensed his sons curiosity, and chalked it up as to why he had his eyes closed. "Well the reason why I have my eyes closed, is because I have no eyes. You took them remember?" Fugaku asked, not a single ounce of hatred, or scorn was laced into his voice.

Itachi nodded, remembering he had taken a few Uchiha's eyes after he had slaughtered the clan. "Yeah, and I am surprised that you don't hate me, because I did kill you after all. One of the most powerful Uchiha of his time." Itachi said, and Fugaku shook his head a bit at this.

"No, you were in the right killing me, before your family, your Hokage comes, and you learned that just about the entire Uchiha clan was plotting a coup d'etat. So you protected your hokage, that was a noble, as it must have hurt to burden that entire weight yourself." Fugaku said, then hugged his son tightly into his arms, and sighed a bit as he did. "I promised to serve my Hokage, but I lost my idea's, and promises, only wanting power, I was weak. I could never hate you for upholding your oath you swore when you became an anbu." Fugaku said, then was a little surprised when Itachi returned the embrace a little tighter than his own hug.

Itachi sighed, and shook his head lightly at this. "It's not entirely your fault, they filled your head with false hopes, and lies to try and get you to their side. If I didn't have such a strong will as I have now, I would have given into the propaganda they were spewing too." Itachi said, then stepped back a bit after releasing Fugaku from his embrace.

Fugaku smiled softly, and ruffled his son's hair, even though he was a good head taller than him now. "Now my son, I have much to teach you in so little time we have together." Fugaku said, then a stone tablet appeared behind him. Similar to the one hidden in the Uchiha hideout, but at the same time, vastly different as to what he had read before hand.

Itachi examined this tablet, and realized something, the tablet appeared blank all together, he could see no text so he was puzzled because his father seemed to be reading it. "Tou-san... I can't read it, why is that?" Itachi asked, still examining the tablet while he did.

Fugaku sighed a bit then Itachi felt a spike in his chakra, normally signaling the activation of his sharingan. "Look at my eyes Itachi." Fugaku said calmly, but Itachi obeyed as if his voice left no room for anything but absolute obedience as to what he was saying.

Itachi looked at his eyes, and they weren't the normal sharingan he had always seen, well then again he had never seen his father activate the Sharingan. Even though he was the current head of the Uchiha, no one had ever seen his sharingan past stage three, and lived to tell the tale. There was a circle of slight thickness surrounding his pupil, and three tomeo surrounding it. "So this is what your mangekyo looks like..." Itachi mused lightly in awe at seeing this.

Fugaku nodded, but the way he stayed silent, there was something more to it than he was letting on. "But my Mangekyo is very special, you remember how you could control time in your Mangekyo realm?" Fugaku asked, and Itachi nodded, making him even more curious.

"What of it?" Itachi asked curiously, then his father kept silent, and let the information process itself in Itachi's brain, when he realized what his father meant his eyes became huge. "You can control time to a degree in the real world?" Itachi asked, even more in awe at his father, no wonder his father was the leader, and clan head of the Uchiha with such extraordinary power.

Fugaku nodded, confirming what Itachi had felt was right then. "Yeah, that was a power no one that aside from your mother knew, some enemies have seen it. Though they will never live to tell the tale." Fugaku said with a bit of a dark chuckle at his sons awe.

Itachi returned to his normally stoic expression, and stood, and activated his sharingan. Then materialized a mirror in front of him, and his Sharingan was his fathers. "I didn't know there was a power that equaled that of our best, Madara Uchiha." Itachi mused, testing his new Sharingan out, and looked at the tablet before him again, this time he could clearly read it, and it read:

"After further investigation of my new Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, I have found it has the ability to distort time in my own realm. So hypothetically it should be possible to distort time to a degree in the real realm. Though after much trial, and error, I cannot discern any actual distortion in the current timeline, even my a second. Maybe this is the current limit of my Sharingan... Though in the future one lucky Uchiha maybe able to distort time where I failed." The next word is covered in what looks like an old blood splatter. "Though I do not have much time left in this world, I will do whatever I can to figure this out, because it could save me, and help me with my plan... The Tsuki no Me.[1] I will place other tablets with my further findings in various places only accessible by Uchiha, and very skilled seal breakers." Then the text ends, even though half the tablet was still untouched, though this made Itachi curious as to future types of Sharingan.

Fugaku had read this tablet over and over once he had activated his special Sharingan, it was covered in a thick genjutsu that was built to keep regenerating because of environment chakra, even after the caster had been dead and gone for a long time. "Madara Uchiha was a crafty fox I'll give him that, but I still haven't been able to find all of the other tablets." Fugaku said with a sigh, then started flickering a bit, as if he was fading away from there. "Oh... Well it seems they need me back, now that my time is up. Well my son... I guess this is goodbye for now..." He said with a warm smile as he faded away. "I love you son, always have, and always will." wasn't said, but Itachi felt like thats what was said from his father's soul to his heart.

Itachi felt a sudden warm happiness come over him, throughout his entire life he had excelled in everything to make his father proud. Nothing seemed to work, but his father had finally acknowledged him, and said that he loved him. Then the world around him started to tilt, as if someone was about to flip the world. Then Itachi regained his consciousness.

"**Welcome back to the world of the living Itachi, you had flat lined on us for about 10 minutes, but seems you're fine now. You're just full of surprises now a days huh?**" Black Zetsu mused, then something rare happened, black Zetsu chuckled a bit at his own joke.

Itachi sat up, and realized he couldn't see, and felt something wrapped around his head, and eyes, so he chalked it up to being bandages to aid the healing of his eyes. "Yeah, I was talking to Tou-san, but in the other world I was talking for 10 hours. Hmm... His sharingan can really control time on the outside realm to an extent." Itachi said, the last part was just above a bare whisper, neither of the Zetsu's could hear this, and dismissed this.

Black Zetsu helped Itachi to his feet, as he stumbled a little bit, not being able to see caused him to stumble a little bit with loss of equilibrium. "**It will take a few weeks for your eyes to completely heal until the point they can be used with no problems.**" -(Bold here) Black Zetsu said, leading Itachi to his room, where he would be, except when he was training in his mind.

Itachi sat cross legged in the middle of the room, and concentrated, going into a trance like state, entering his mindscape. His mind space was far unlike Naruto's, was a dojo, with the Uchiha symbol on either side of the room, and a wall of ornate battle ready Katana's. "Seems nothing has changed" Itachi says as he stands, then a tall man, in an all orange kimono appeared in front of him. He looked like a younger Itachi, and had an orange aura surrounding him, giving off an air of confidence, and strength. "Susano'o-sama..." Itachi trailed, and bowed lightly, as he was in the presence of his trump card, his susano'o, which was bestowed to him by the gods themselves, because not since Shisui, and Madara had someone bore susano'o.

The man, now known as Susano'o chuckled lightly at this, then patted Itachi on the shoulder. "Stand my friend, you have proved yourself worthy of standing on the same level as I." Susano'o said and Itachi stood, and smiled lightly, which was rare for him. "Thank you, we have been through much together, you have saved me countless times." Itachi said, and Susano'o waved it off, as if it was nothing much to him, or it was expected.

Susano'o looked around the dojo, and then back to Itachi. "I can't just let my partner die, now can I?" Susano'o asked, meeting Itachi's smile with a smile of his own. "Its been a while since we were here, not since you had to defeat me to use my power. What brings you here today Itachi?" Susano'o asked, reveling a bit in the remembrance of the day that they signed their partnership in battle.

Itachi pumped a little chakra into his eyes, and his new Sharingan spun to life, surprising Susano'o, because he had seen Itachi's sharingan before the transfer. "I have come to practice with my new powers, and I need your help if you don't mind. I need someone to test it on, my father told me it has pretty much the same powers I had, but his own special skill. He didn't give it a skill name, so Im going to call it..." Itachi trailed as he tried to figure out a fitting name for such a skill. Then he came up with an idea he liked "亀の速度[1] Hayasa no Za kame.[2]" Itachi said, loving the sound of the name, but it was a pretty big name for a skill, but Jutsu names were long, so it didn't phase him that much because of that.

Susano'o widened his eyes in surprise a bit at the fitting name for the skill, though from the name, Susano'o now wanted to see it in action. "So you need me to be your testing dummy I'm assuming?" Susano'o asked, not taking another moment to beat around the bush.

Itachi nodded, confirming what he thought as being true. "Yes, and no... I need you to actually fight me like you're serious, otherwise the skill will have been tested on a control, and I won't know its actually battle capabilities." Itachi said, and Susano'o nodded,

Susano'o slipped into his offensive dragon combat stance, and launched himself at Itachi, not giving him a moment of break. As that would be a sign of weakness, and weakness in a fight, can be the end of you, even just in a sparr. "Prepare yourself, because I didn't just sit, and wait after you defeated me the first time." Susano'o said, and smirked at his partner.

Itachi stayed cool, and stoic, deflecting each punch as if it were nothing, Susano'o was fast, but his fathers Sharingan made it seem as if he was moving in slow motion. "I wouldn't have it any other way, but you better not lose too quickly." Itachi said with a light smirk, then planted a good open palm into Susano's chest, sending him back a few inches, not enough to stop him.

Susano'o launched himself back toward Itachi, not give him even a moments rest, as a real opponent wouldn't give him that chance in a battle. "Lets see that skill in action." Susano'o taunted at Itachi, as he planted a dragon's claw punch into Itachi's shoulder.

Itachi had to admit that hurt, and if he hadn't stepped back when he did, he was pretty sure his shoulder would be out of the socket right about now. "You will see it soon enough, lets have some fun first." Itachi said, and part of the reason why he had not used it yet, was because he wanted to spar with his old friend, and two, because he didn't know how to activate the skill yet.

Susano'o could tell he was trying everything he knew to get the skill, but it still wasn't working, so he came up with an idea to see if he could get the skill to come out. '**This maybe a bit dangerous, but it should work...**' Susano'o trailed in thought, then pulled out the Totsuka blade, which was in the gourd handle at the moment.

Itachi's eyes widened slightly when he saw Susano'o pull out the Totsuka blade, this meant he was getting serious. '**This could get rather troublesome**" Itachi thought to himself, and was about to dodge the blade coming out, but then everything slowed down even more, more than it would if he was just using his sharingan alone, or any shunshi.

Susano'o felt himself significantly slow down, because they were moving with blinding speed, and blurring around the dojo. "Seems you have activated i-!" Susano'o trailed off, while looking down at the Totsuka blade, the fabled blade where nothing could stop it, and everything it touched was sealed into the gourd was slowly extending at a turtle like pace. "That shouldn't be possible..." Susano'o trailed in awe, as the jutsu stopped, and Susano'o fell, because he hadn't fixed himself to land normally before he was frozen in mid air.

Itachi nodded, and then Susano'o attacked again, this time with the Yata mirror, which was believed to reflect any jutsu, no matter how powerful it was. '**This jutsu is almost godlike...**' Itachi mused silently as the shield stopped, mere inches from his face.

Susano'o sagged in defeat, and deactivated the Totsuka blade, and the Yata mirror, they faded from existence, back into Susano'o's body. "As much as I hate to admit it... I admit defeat!" Susano'o exclaimed lightly in annoyance at having to admit defeat.

Itachi's image flickered a bit, as if his very existence in his mind-scape was slowly coming to an end, so Itachi, and Susano'o stood up, and they hugged each other. "Seems this is all the time we have for now, but I will see you soon, I am sure of it." Itachi said, as he slowly faded from the mind-scape.

Black Zetsu noticed that a spike in Itachi's chakra signaled that Itachi returned back to their world. "**Welcome back Itachi, we were about to use Astral Projection jutsu to go and get you from that mind-scape.**" Black Zetsu said, and most wouldn't have noticed this, but there was a hint of worry to his voice, it would have taken a trained ear, or someone paying close attention to Black Zetsu.

Itachi noticed the hint of worry in Zetsu's voice, and waved him off. "Its fine, I was only gone for a couple hours, a day at max." Itachi said, standing, and dusting himself off, there was more dust than there normally would have been, but he didn't think too much into why that maybe.

Black Zetsu silently conferred with his White counterpart for a second through their mental link. "Um... Itachi-sama... You have been in your mind-scape, for four and a half weeks now." White Zetsu chimed in, and Itachi froze for a second as the words sunk into his brain.

Itachi's mind went through all the possibilities of why he had been in his mind-scape for a week, and not been hungry as a crazy man. "So the jutsu can also stop time entirely around the caster itself, otherwise I would be very hungry right now... I wonder what other hidden skills that it has that even my father didn't know about..." Itachi mused lightly out loud, not caring Zetsu heard this.

Black Zetsu filed this away for later to report to Obitobi, then put the lunch tray with Itachi's favorite foods. "Well you should be able to take the bandages off now, and see well with your new sharingan." Black Zetsu said, then Itachi slowly started unwrapping the bandages from his eyes.

Itachi took it off slowly, because he knew the light in the room was on, so he didn't want to blind himself with removing it quickly. "I can see even better than I could with my old eyes in their prime, there is no cloudiness now, so it means I have Eternal Mangekyo." Itachi said, pulsing a little chakra into his Sharingan, causing it to activate. "Good, now we move forward in my plan." Itachi said, then started walking towards the door, and went to the right, heading to his armory, he would have to prepare for one hell of a battle again between him, and Sasuke, until he could get him to understand.

_**Time skip**_**: Itachi was tree hopping as he headed towards Orochimaru's hideout, where Sasuke more than likely was after he killed Orochimaru. He had to conceal his chakra signature so that Sasuke, or the unknown chakra signature traps that were more than likely set up in various places around the forest around the hideout, wouldn't trigger.**

Itachi was focused on his thoughts when a familiar presence entered his mind. '**To what do I owe the unexpected visit Susano'o?' **Itachi thought inwardly to the man that was also inside his head right now.

Susano'o yawned a bit, as if he had just woken up. "I'm going to help you, because its going to be hard, he will think you're a genjutsu since he killed Zetsu's clone you." Susano'o said, then he went silent, leaving Itachi to his own thoughts again.

Itachi noticed a chakra signature trailing him from a safe distance, if it hadn't moved a little closer by accident, then he wouldn't have noticed it. "Come out, and show yourselves." Itachi said, stopping on a tree branch as the unknown came closer.

The unknown signature stopped on a tree branch in front of Itachi. "Nii-san... I killed you, I know I did..." The man now known as Sasuke fumed at Itachi, because he hadn't expected in this life again to be warned of his presence.

Itachi narrowed his eye's at Sasuke, and sighed a bit at his brothers ignorance. "You killed Zetsu, you noticed how you stole from the Zetsu clone dissapeared?" Itachi said calmly, not really caring if this would goad Sasuke into attacking him.

Sasuke nodded, the eyes he had stolen from the clone had burst into flames, and dissapeared from existence. "So thats why, you're still alive, now I have to actually kill you, and redeem the name of our clan!" Sasuke inhumanly growled out at the man before him, and drew Kusanagi, and pointed it at him.

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment, dodging a volley of shuriken that Sasuke had fired at him. Opening one eye when Sasuke launched himself at Itachi, kicking him in the gut, spinning around a bit, and launching Sasuke into a tree. "You're too slow, never stop training, even after achieving your dream." Itachi said, launching himself at Sasuke, catching Sasuke off guard, putting him on the defense.

Sasuke growled a bit at having to take defense, then pumped a bit of chakra into his sword, cutting through Itachi's kunai in a mere moment. "Don't underestimate me! I nearly killed you once! I will do it again! Watch me!" Sasuke yelled, kicking Itachi back, causing him to have to grab a branch before he fell to the forest floor.

Itachi stayed silent for a moment, engaging in a taijutsu battle, blocking Sasuke's attempts at Kenjutsu with a kunai. "You really think I would kill Tou-san, and Kaa-san, just to test my power?" Itachi asked Sasuke, catching him off guard, causing him to hesitate for a moment, giving Itachi the time he needs to punch him in the jaw.

Sasuke popped his jaw back into place, staying still, and silent for a moment. "What other reason would you kill them for then!? Not just them, but our entire clan!" Sasuke yelled, tears started flowing a bit as he bit back his emotions.

Itachi pondered telling him, but he was no longer a leaf ninja, so it didn't really matter if he told Sasuke classified information. "Because... I was ordered to by Danzo, the leader of the Anbu Black OP's at the time, now leader of the root." Itachi said calmly, causing Sasuke's brow to knit in frustration at what he had just been told.

The more Itachi told him, the more Sasuke became confused, and the more questions that formed in Sasuke's mind. "For what reason would he have to kill off the strongest clan in Konohagakure?" Sasuke asked calmly, finally gaining control of his emotions, which threatened to run rampant if he didn't keep a tight leash on them.

Itachi closed his eyes again, taking a deep breath before speaking again. "You're still too naïve Sasuke... Or maybe its just the fact you were too young at the time to notice what was going on around you." Itachi said, causing Sasuke's eyebrow to twitch slightly in annoyance at his brothers insults towards him, his cool was getting close to breaking.

Sasuke had to admit though, he had never thought of another reason as to why Itachi had killed the clan before now. "Then what was the reason?" Sasuke asked calmly, but a hint of anger was laced into his voice, which seemed unintentional to Itachi.

"Because, the rest of the Uchiha was planning a coup de tat against the entire leaf village, to take control, because they believed they were superior." Itachi said, he didn't believe just because of their unique dojutsu, didn't make them better than the Hokage. As he protected the entire village, while most of the Uchiha's just sat in the lap of luxury, being spoiled brats, who thought they were entitled to everything. He also was very much patriotic to his village, and would do anything to protect it from harm.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at Itachi, it was a pretty legitimate reason, but he still couldn't understand one thing. "Then why not just try and convince them that that was a misguided idea?" Sasuke asked, annoyance laced throughout his voice.

Itachi shook his head a bit at this question. "I had, several times I did my best to convince them, that this was not the way. That there is a better way, even said they could just wait until the Hokage passed away to try and get an Uchiha into power..." Itachi trailed, his father was a misguided fool that was very much Arrogant. He was sure he could sway Itachi to come to their side, which was ultimately their downfall.

Sasuke sighed, he knew his father was one of the most dense men that you could ever meet, and he was probably the ring leader to the plan. "I hate the leaf village now... They should have just let it happen, the Uchiha are the best..." Sasuke trailed, he was one of the Uchiha who believed they were the best of the best, arrogance at its best.

Itachi rubbed his nose bridge in annoyance. "No Sasuke... The sacrifice of few, had to be done for the safety of many." Itachi said calmly, then tilted his head a little to dodge an enraged Kusanagi being launched at him, embedding in the tree behind him.

Sasuke smirked a bit at the fact Itachi didn't move his entire body, then a glint of silver ninja wire wrapped around Itachi by a bushin behind the tree. "You should never let your guard down in a fight Itachi, you're the one that taught me that." Sasuke said, then yanked the wire with his gloved hand towards him a bit.

Itachi's eyes narrowed, then when Sasuke pulled more tightly, Itachi separated into a bunch of crows. "You're in my genjutsu, which is significantly stronger than it was before." Itachi said, his voice seemed to be coming from every direction, and no direction at the same time he was speaking in the air.

Sasuke's eyes widened at this, he didn't think it was possible, but during the the brief taijutsu match, he had seen a difference in his sharingan, but he couldn't really tell. "Whose are they?" Sasuke asked, looking slowly around for Itachi.

Itachi appeared behind him, leaning against his little brother a bit. "They were dads, now they're mine, and your eyes are limited, mine are eternal." Itachi said, then when Sasuke swung behind him, illusion Itachi disappeared before the hit even landed.

"Why are you so powerful!? Dad was one of the weakest Uchiha around, who only had his third tomeo, I don't understand how he was the head of the clan! You should've been once you turned 18!" Sasuke exclaimed, rage filling his voice steadily.

Itachi appeared before Sasuke, but on a higher tree branch. "He never showed his true power to anyone, anyone who saw it died soon after seeing it. Tactics 101, to fool your opponent, you must first fool your friends. You would do well to remember that." Itachi said, the shunshied down in front of Sasuke. Placing his head close to Sasuke's ear, letting out a killer ki that froze Sasuke in place from fear. "I am not on your side, I do regret what I did that night. I miss Tou-san, and Kaa-san every night before I go to bed Sasuke. I do not regret protecting my village though, embrace your village Sasuke. Because a time where they will need your skill is coming, and coming soon." Itachi said mystically, then disappeared in a blur of speed from the area where Sasuke was.

When Sasuke was finally released from the killer ki, he slumped to his knees, he knew Itachi had been holding back during their fight, but not that much. "If he could do that during our battle, then why didn't he?" Sasuke quietly mused to himself, getting up, and pulling Kusanagi from the tree, and sheathing him, then disappeared in a blur of speed. '**Because he loves you Sasuke**' A disconnected voice sounded in Sasuke's head. Causing Sasuke to freak out a bit, and swing wildly with Kusanagi at an invisible man.

The man in Sasuke's head chuckled a little bit at Sasuke's shock. "Calm down, I'm in your head, and I am an ally, I promise." The man said, and promised. "Seems you're finally able to hear me now. You must have finally unlocked my power, my name is... Thats not important right now, but what is, that you will have power that you cannot even begin to fathom, but you must make a choice. My power comes at a cost, as per any deal of this fashion." The man said, giving Sasuke a moment to ponder this.

Sasuke answered almost immediately. "I accept, I will just use your power in moderation, as to not tax my body too much." Sasuke said, confusing the man in his head immensely, then he waited for Sasuke to explain how he knew the cost. "Itachi complained about a man in his head for a month. Then a month later I saw him use for the first time a partial Susano'o. He told me that one day, if I unlock this power, it will slowly kill me, so use it wisely." Sasuke said, and a chuckle was heard in his head.

The man had to give it to Sasuke, he had a quick wit, and even faster thought process. "Alright, one day we will meet in your mind-scape, and train." The man said, then Sasuke felt the presence leave his mind, leaving him to his thoughts.

_**Back with Itachi -(Bold/ Italicize here)**_

Itachi was tree hopping back to his hideout, that was not too far from the Uchiha hideout, but hidden, hidden much better than the Uchiha hideout. '**This shall be interesting pretty soon, and I should prepare to 'talk' to Danzo...**' Itachi trailed to himself, then pressed his thumb against a chakra/ fingerprint scanner to his armory.

Black Zetsu stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by various weapons, and scrolls, the scrolls varied from d rank basic chakra control exercises, to S-rank forbidden jutsu's, such as Shiki Fūjin. "**Preparing to 'speak' to Danzo?**' Zetsu asked curiously, and Itachi nodded.

Itachi picked up a scroll, containing a c ranked jutsu, that would seemingly be nothing compared to Danzo's jutsu's. Though what Itachi had in mind for it, it would work wonders against him. "Yeah, I am going to get retribution for my clan, I realized years ago, not too long after I killed them, that if I had know the reason behind the mission. I would have been able to convince the Uchiha clan, that a Coup d'etat was not the way to go." Itachi outwardly mused, then picked up a new lightweight alloy Katana he had made, balancing it in his hand. Testing to see if it felt right in his hand, and it did, then he took a couple practice swings. Deciding he liked it, he tied the sheath to his waist, and sheathed the Katana into it, before starting to leave the room.

"**You think that is all you will need against a man like Danzo?**" Black Zetsu asked curiously, he knew Itachi's power, but he didn't know Danzo's. So he was just making sure that Itachi would have the best possible chance against Danzo in case of a possible loss.

Itachi just ignored Black Zetsu's comment, moreover being lost in his own thoughts, then disappearing in a blur of speed. '**This man is known for using s-rank ninjutsu, and a-rank taijutsu. As far as anybody currently know's, he doesn't use genjutsu. Though genjutsu really won't matter against me.'** Itachi mused to himself, as he tree hopped at a breakneck pace, not even getting a bit winded by this as he was used to it.

**(With Danzo Shimura) **

Danzo sneezed lightly, rubbing his nose a bit as he mused. "Hmm... Someone is talking about me, or thinking about me. I thought I was careful about concealing my existence... Aside from my root ninja, and the shodaime emperor should be the only ones alive that know... My men should have killed Itachi, after all, they brought back his body." Danzo mused a bit, as Sai watched him pace back, and fourth. He said nothing, but he recently started growing a mind of his own, and a will, but he still had that silence seal for certain words he couldn't remove.

'**What has master Danzo so worried? This is rather peculiar indeed, lets keep this little tid-bit to report back to Yamato-sensei.'** Sai thought to himself, then as soon as Danzo waved his hand, dismissing him, he disappeared in a blur of speed.

Danzo sighed, and itched a bit under his bandages, where a faint red glow could be seen coming from under the bandages. "Looks like I may have to let the eyes get a little light, its been quite a while." Danzo mused, then walked off into a backroom of his root complex.

White Zetsu appeared a little, just to where you could see his eye, Itachi had always kept a clone on him to keep close watch over the man. '**Hmm... Itachi-sama will want to know this, I will report back to him immediately. ku ku ku ku!' **Black Zetsu mused to himself, then disappeared back into the ground, sending the information to his black counterpart.

**(With Itachi) **

Itachi stopped when he saw a black head pop up out the side of a tree, signaling Black Zetsu wished to speak to him. "What is it Zetsu?" Itachi mused lightly, letting him speak.

Black Zetsu cleared his throat, and began to relay what white zetsu had told him. '**White Zetsu has just informed me of something rather curious. He said he saw Danzo itch his arm.**' Black Zetsu trailed, loving to annoy people a bit before telling it all.

Itachi's eyes narrowed in annoyance at the black plant man before him. "Tell me what you know, or I will wipe out all of your kind." Itachi threatened in annoyance, causing Black Zetsu to throw his hands up in a show of submissiveness.

"**Ma ma, calm down Itachi, I was just getting to that, he was scratching his arm, and under his bandaged arm, there seemed to be a red glow of sorts. My first guess would be sharingan implanted in his arm, but then I think for possible reasons. I can come up with nothing, because unless the sharingan were active when they were taken. They would be useless to anyone, much less this methodical man.**" Black Zetsu said, giving Itachi the information, and his opinion.

Itachi nodded a bit at the information he had just gained. "Its entirely possible he could have reanimated the Uchiha I slaughtered bodies. Then while he had control over them, activate the sharingan before taking them, and dismissing the souls of the dead hosts.

Black Zetsu's eyes widened, as he had not thought of this, but it made sense. The ulterior motive as to why Danzo had Itachi slaughter his clan. To gain the power of Izanami, so in combat he would be nearly impervious to damage sustained in battle that'd be fatal normally.

Itachi noticed the realization through black Zetsu, and nodded. "It is exactly what you're thinking, this man, used the leaf villages time of need for his own warped, corrupt plan. I love my village, even though I am a hidden nin from there. So I will kill him, and leave without a trace, because thats what the village deserves. As this man is trying to become hokage after the recent accident of Tsunade Senju." Itachi says, and Black Zetsu nods, and disappears again. Itachi goes back to tree hopping, making it to the edge of the leaf village in no time at all.

Kotetsu, and Isane were on the outer perimeter today, because someone else was watching the inner gate. When a pretty strong gust of wind blew past the duo. "Whoa! Did you feel that?" Kotetsu openly mused, looking around the forest clearing a bit.

"Ye-!" Was all that was heard from Isane, as he hit the ground with a thud, not dead, just unconscious.

Kotetsu whirled around, and rushed over to his downed friends side. "Are you ok Isa-!" Is all that was heard from Kotetsu, before Itachi judo chopped him across the neck. Effectively knocking him unconscious, making him slump against his partner, and eternal rival.

Itachi sighed, then rotated his arm backwards, his forearm pointed out in front of him. "Don't hate me for that, I am here for your benefit surprisingly." Itachi quietly mused, then disappeared in another blur of speed. Appearing in front of an old, hidden anbu service tunnel entrance tunnel. Underground was safe from the barrier detection radius, and the ground detection system only went off when earth nature chakra. That would allow an earth user to travel underground would go off if there was earth nature chakra in the ground near the barrier radius.

A sentry posted at this old tunnel looked around, then saw what he thought was Kotetsu, but it was Itachi in a transformation jutsu to look like him. "Hey! Kotetsu! Its been awhile man! How're ya?!" The sentry exclaimed lightly, his southern accent was so thick, that it made Itachi do everything in his power not to cringe at the hoarse sounding accent he carried.

Itachi/ Kotetsu chuckled a little bit, then Itachi went into his best impersonation of a man he knew next to nothing about. "I'm wonderful, just came here to relieve you of duty for now. It has to be pretty boring down here, no one but yourself to keep you entertained." Itachi/ Kotetsu mused, doing his best jovial sounding voice he could find in him, seemingly working.

The sentries eyebrows furrowed at this, this was very unusual to the sentry. "Wait, shouldn't they send Kaname to relieve me instead?" The sentry questioned, causing him to get increasingly wary of Kotetsu, because he knew the schedule.

Itachi/ Kotetsu nodded "Yeah... Kaname was sick today, so he called in sick, Isane, and Shunsui are watching the forest." Kotetsu/ Itachi said, and the sentry seemed to physically relax, and as he did, Itachi's grip on his on a kunai behind his back lessened accordingly. '**If at all possible, I would like to avoid bloodshed.**' Itachi thought to himself, then the sentry started walking away.

The sentry started walking to the hokage, because he didn't believe that this change would be unannounced to the sentries in their place, so he wanted to confirm this with the hokage. "Alright, have fun watching the most boring spot." He called back to Itachi/Kotetsu.

Itachi grunted lightly in reply, and started down the tunnel again, disappearing in a blur of speed when he knew the sentry couldn't sense him anymore. '**Where is it? Otou-san said it would be around here...**' Itachi trailed to himself as a look of success faintly crossed his handsome features, and he found what he was looking for.

* * *

><p>TL - Authors Note:

1) 亀の速度: Just for added effect, if I can find the actual kanji for the jutsu's I make up, or find worth researching what the kanji, and such is. I will added them to my story lines, don't worry, the translation will always follow it immediately. ^~^

2) Hayasa no Za kame: Literally translates to "Speed of the turtle" I thought long, and hard about what the possible name could be. This was the best I could come up with at the moment, the name may change a bit in a future chapter, but for now. That is the name of Itachi's overpowered new sharingan skill.

3) Shiki Fūjin: Reaper Death Seal, Dead Demon Consuming Soul, whatever you want to call it. It was notably used by the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, or 'gramps' *chuckles* he used this jutsu v Orochimaru of the Sanin.


End file.
